midwest. all part of a system i wasn'ter level low that will meander over us transfer its energy to coastal low off the coast of virginia. and what this means our weather will be unsettled late tonight into early sunday morning. a winter weather advisory has been posted for lancaster, berks, lehigh, northampton counties and the poconos. 6:00 a.m. tomorrow through 6:00 a.m. sunday. a lot like tuesday, this past tuesday with our nor'easter, it depends on elevation and your location but unlike last tuesday, this is not going to be a major winter storm. it's more of a nuisance event. so, this is what to expect as we head through the weekend. late tonight into tomorrow morning, we get some snow north and west, a mix across i-95, rain to the southeast. however, during the day tomorrow, it changes quickly over to rain showers across our entire viewing area except for the poconos. it will stay as all snow during the day in the poconos but saturday night into sunday morning, this is when we get that transfer of energy. so what that does, it pulls down colder air.

6:01 pm

so any precipitation changes over to light snow on some of this will be accumulating by sunday morning. as far as tonight, though, if you're out on the town celebrating saint patrick's day, it should be dry right through 11 o'clock, temperatures dropping down into the mid 30's. i'll talk more about the weekend and what to expect where you live as far as accumulation coming up in the full accuweather forecast. jim. >> cecily, thank you. we recommend that you visit 6abc.com throughout the day for the very latest from accuweather. you can also check our series of traffic cameras and storm tracker6 live radar and be sure to interact with our team of meteorologists on facebook and twitter. flames attacked a pair of bay front homes this morning in avalon new jersey along seagull drive near flamingo drive. officials still don't know what sparked the fire. "action news" reporter jeanette reyes has the story. >> reporter: this morning fast moving fire left residents in this upscale avalon neighborhood stunned and heartbroken as they saw

6:02 pm

their long time neighbors' homes destroyed. >> it just never stopped. >> reporter: firefighters say the blaze at the multi-million dollar waterfront homes on seagull drive broke out around 7:45 this morning: chief ed dean believes the fire started in between the homes. this picture seems to show just that. it was a young mother sound asleep inside of the green home to the left that first saw the flames. she and her newborn baby escaped without injuries. neighbors tell "action news" the young mother's parents, the owners of the home, were on vacation in florida. she and her husband were house sitting. the second home affected was a vacation home. no one was there at the time of the fire. >> felt so bad for the last house where they lived here year round and they have family. everything is destroyed. i mean, i get teary eyed because you think all their memories of growing up, all their -- their pictures, anything, everything is gone. >> reporter: over 100

6:03 pm

firefighters from six companies responded, two water supplies were needed first to get the flames under control, the sector several blocks away to put them out. it took more than an hour to extinguish the flames. >> challenge is the body of fire. fairly large dwellings with combustible siding and things like that, once they get going, you need a lot of water. >> reporter: the fire seems to have started near a gas line. investigators will look into that as a possible cause. >> absolutely utilities will be investigated thoroughly and either ruled out or ruled in as contributors. >> reporter: the owners of the home where the mother was house sitting will return from florida within the hour. we're told this is their primary residence. both homes are a complete loss. reporting in avalon, jeanette reyes channel6 "action news." >> a woman died in a house fire in pemberton early this morning. first responders were called to the 400 block of cornell avenue at 5:34. police pulled the 71-year-old

6:04 pm

homeowner estaban rivera to safety but the flames were too intense to get to the unidentified victim on the second floor. investigators are still looking into the cause but they say oxygen used in the home may have contributed to the spread of the flames. authorities today arrested a former state trooper for the murders of his wife and baby back in march of 2014. "action news" reporter bob brooks is live at the montgomery county courthouse in norristown and bob, you've got the details. >> reporter: well, jim, we are talking about former trooper joseph miller. tonight he faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter for killing both his wife and that baby. it's a tragic story. three years ago in east norriton a 911 call comes from this home. detectives say it's from pennsylvania state police trooper joseph miller. it's reported on march seventh, 2014. miller called to report that he had shot his wife in the family room of their home on stony creek road. east norriton police would

6:05 pm

arrive at the scene to find his wife joanna unresponsive. she was shot in the head. investigators reported miller says it was an accident while cleaning the gun. today again more than three years later the montgomery county d.a.'s office placed miller under arrest charged now with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. at first detectives determined miller was negligent but not criminally liable in his handling of the firearm. but in a news release today the d.a.'s office made the announcement. part of that reads "forensic and ballistic tests conducted over the last two years showed that the victim was shot at a close range." the it states "the investigation also revealed that miller as a state police trooper had extensive knowledge of basic and mandatory procedures of gun safety and handling." we tried to reach out to the d.a. of why the decision comes now but the office declined to give us a comment. now, miller was arraigned today, his bond set at $100,000. miller has waived his

6:06 pm

preliminary hearing. reporting live in norristown bob brooks channel6 "action news." jim. >> bob, thank you. philadelphia police nabbed robbery suspect after a brief chase this morning. police captured the alleged bandit on delaware avenue near orthodox street in the bridesburg section of the city. police say the suspect held up the prudential bank on the 8000 block of frankford avenue in holmesburg at 11 o'clock. a tip from a witness helped police track the suspect's vehicle. the man is now in the custody of the fbi. investigators still trying to figure out how and why a car was in the path of a freight train this morning. nobody was injured fortunately in this head-on crash in tioga-nicetown in philadelphia. the car somehow got stuck on the snow covered tracks. it happened near the 3400 block of westemoreland. the car was damaged. the train was not. in atlantic city, they have launched a campaign against the state of new jersey's plan to lay off police and firefighters in the

6:07 pm

financially crippled city. "action news" reporter john rawlins was in atlantic city today and this is what he saw. >> we're fighting police and fire layoffs here in atlantic city. >> reporter: handing out fliers on the boardwalk the message the state is gambling with public safety by ordering layoffs of first responders. >> state takeover officials are pushing their plan to lay off almost 50 percent of the entire fire department. >> reporter: at this earlier gathering the police union said it was expecting the salary cuts not 24 layoffs. >> preconceived numbers now. that is a huge deal. we've never had this few cops working the streets in atlantic city since the 70's before casinos were here. >> reporter: from the audience came harsh words for the powerful in trenton. >> what the hell is wrong with this governor? he's out of his mind. >> reporter: the state says it had to order the 34 million-dollar cuts because of ac's dismal finances. among those urging resistance police officer josh fidel recovering from being shot in the line of duty last yearly he compared trenton's

6:08 pm

oversight to the traffic survey connected to bridgegate. >> the state promises to run the city's finances properly. but the state can't even run a traffic study properly. [laughter] let that sink in for everyone. >> reporter: the unions have gone to court to try to stop the state t others are proposing a two dollars night ac room tax to counteract the cuts. at this point the situation is still fluid. it is not clear how the legal challenges will eventually play out. the organizers of today's event hope the public will listen to them and get involved. in atlantic city, john rawlins channel6 "action news." >> coming up on "action news" tonight, middle schoolers put their engineering skills to the test creating robots to navigate under water. jeff skversky is live in buffalo where villanova is now looking ahead to round two. jeff. >> reporter: villanova with a tough draw in wisconsin tomorrow afternoon at 2:40 and how the villanova band saved

6:09 pm

one of villanova's star players last night. those stories coming up in sports. cecily. >> double scan live showing snow and rain moving in right in time for the weekend. i'll have details on the timing and what to expect where you live in the accuweather 7-day forecast. >> those stories and more when "action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

6:10 pm

6:11 pm

>> franklin institute in philadelphia the setting for a conference designed to spark a passion for science in young women. students from thing a nas irwin school spent the afternoon exploring the exhibits. then they had a chance to sit down with female leaders in

6:12 pm

the fields of science technology engineering and math. >> ♪ >> bag pipes and drums led this year's saint patrick's day parade up king street in wilmington this morning. but this parade was more of a journey than a destination. the marchers were on their way to fundraising breakfast at the double tree hotel to raise money for the saint patrick's center which helps the homeless. if you're celebrating we want to wish you a happy saint patrick's day. if you're not celebrating you should be. "action news" reporter gray hall tapped into that all the fun and tradition of saint patrick's day in philadelphia. >> happy saint patrick's day. >> i am 110 percent irish. >> they don't do saint patrick's day on the west coast like they do it in philadelphia. >> reporter: across philadelphia people are toasting eating drinking and being merry all in celebration of saint patrick's day. >> we like to do anything irish on saint patrick's day.

6:13 pm

i'm from a very irish family from ireland went there for my honeymoon. we like irish bars irish music drinking irish beer. >> reporter: those celebrating say the day is more than just a big its about tradition meeting new friends irish culture and pride. >> just got engaged my fiancé so we're celebrating our first engagement together. hopefully she can join in on all the irish festivities and get a pint of guinness for the day and relax enjoy and think about all the irish people back at home. >> reporter: from pub to pub the picture will be the same like here or at the ire are you sure pub you'll signed a sea of green smiles clinging glasses and loud crowds. >> going to jump off. at 2:00 p.m. we have real to real, real traditional irish band coming in. 6:00 p.m. we have our house band who are fantastic and they'll bring us straight through the night and this place isn't going to stop until i hope early in the

6:14 pm

morning. >> have a great saint patrick's day and the most important thing is be safe. so just remember on saint patrick's day everyone is irish. all you have to do is grab some green and join in on the fun because it's all about family friends and coming together. reporting in center city, gray hall channel6 "action news."

6:15 pm

6:16 pm

>> wildcats and badgers tomorrow in buffalo. >> and the cats need to tighten things up before that game gets going. which villanova team will show up tomorrow against wisconsin, the one from the first half in last night's game against mount saint mary or the one we saw in the second half. that is the mill i don't and dollar question. jeff skversky is live in buffalo where the cats are preparing for round two. jeff. >> reporter: ducis, villanova gets a fresh start after getting a slow start yesterday against mount saint mary. jay wright talked to his players about getting off to a better start when they face wisconsin tomorrow. his message to his players bring it every day and of

6:17 pm

course bring it every single possession. here is villanova after practice in the locker room today. they're checking out some other tournament games on their phone and if they don't get their act together, they will be watching the games from home next weekend. they didn't score a single point for more than six minutes into the game last night against mount saint mayosaintmary's. the nova cannot do this against wisconsin. >> if you get off to a bad start in any of these games you may not recover. that's what i thought was great about what we did in the second half but you're not together to do that again and certainly not against wisconsin because of their style of play, too. they're going to grind you if they get a lead they're going to grind you its no the a team you and want to get behind on. >> second half we did a great job on but first half we didn't play villanova basketball. if we do that tomorrow we'll be in trouble, we'll be in a dog fight. >> reporter: not only does villanova survive a scare but

6:18 pm

star josh hart survived a scare when he went flying into the villanova band last night and to toot their own horn, yes they saved hart from a potential serious injury. >> i could have slowed down. i was going full speed. and i was just like i hope someone catches me. that's really about it. >> reporter: trombone caught you hm. >> yeah. somebody was like i got you josh, i got you. thanks man. >> he wasn't going to slow down. he's going to hit me and instead of ducking out of the way my first thought was i have to make sure he doesn't hurt himself so i threw my arms out in order to try and catch him. >> reporter: yeah, this villanova band story is a far cry different from what happened a two years ago when the pic piccolo player was cryi. hopefully villanova can keep everyone happy tomorrow against wisconsin and advance to their second straight sweet seen. live in buffalo, jeff skversky channel6 "action news." ducis. >> all right, jeff, thank you so much. the sixers return home to face the mavericks tonight.

6:19 pm

it will be a homecoming for a many toker sixers. nerlens noel back in the house. the former sixers center was traded to the mavs last month. he's been playing fairly well for them. noel admits he might have some butterflies this evening. >> there's always nerves regardless of who we're playing so, you know, this will be a little different. i think there will be a little more smiles a little more enjoyment. at the end of the day i'm going to play my game and let everything take care of itself. >> baseball phillies and blue jays howie kendrick has not had a good spring training. here he hits a home run though a three run shot in the third. phillies take a three-one lead. aaron nola on the hill starts this game he struggles four runs in four and two-thirds innings of work. he was tagged for a rbi triple in the fourth. nola also walked four batters. phillies lose seven to five. hopefully he can get himself straightened out. he had elbow injuries last season. >> ducis thank you. here's a group of people getting the most out of their

6:20 pm

pedometers. 13 postal carriers honored today in center city philadelphia for walking 100 million steps during the course of their careers. postal officials did the math. they calculated that 100 million steps is the average for a postal carrier who has worked 30 years delivering mail on foot. these postal carriers not only went the distance they did so accident free.

6:21 pm

6:22 pm

>> drone6 took flight today in fairmount park in philadelphia. it is still a snowy scene, the smith memorial arch near the please touch museum. sunny day today but more snow

6:23 pm

is on the way. now, i know i'm not wearing green at all. i don't know what came over me this morning. >> i pointed that out. >> i know you pointed it out. but this is hunter green. does it count if it's not kelly green. >> if i wore kelly green i would disappear in front of the weather wall. i would be ahead and hand. >> that's a technical problem but when all is said and done. >> better than blue and gray, that's all i can say. storm tracker6 live double scan, all right, double scan showing some green in honor of saint patrick's day showing some radar echoes near baltimore. this is verga its not really reaching the ground but this is a sign that the atmosphere is beginning to moisten up and we do have some unsettled weather on the way. right now, though, temperatures not bad. 44 degrees. down from a high of 45. 8 degrees below normal so still chilly but at least we're back in the 40's. got a lot of melting today. allentown and reading 41. millville atlantic city 46 and cape may a currently 39 degrees. satellite and radar showing we did start the day with that

6:24 pm

bright sunshine, the blue skies but clouds are rolling in. moisture down to the south is evaporating. tracking what's heading out of the ohio valley. it's a system that will be coming in pieces. future tracker showing tomorrow morning you wake up north of philadelphia it's snowing, getting little bit of that mix right along i-95. rain across south jersey. however, anything frozen or mixed will change over pretty quickly to all rain by the afternoon. except for the poconos where it stays as snow and then this system transfers off the coast. so, what this will do is start to pull down colder air higher in the atmosphere saturday night so we'll see that changeover to snow north of philadelphia early sunday morning it's snow everywhere but it moves out pretty quickly. so it's not going to be a major snow event. wilmington areas to the south just a few flakes, closer to philadelphia we're looking at about a coating to an inch, west chester, media, cherry hill, mount holly. north of trenton north of warminster across berks county this is one to 2 inches.

6:25 pm

north of lehigh tunnel through the poconos into new york this is where it looks like right now the band of highest lift, the steadiest snow will set up. they're looking a the two to 5-inches of snow. we'll have to watch that. if it moves a little bit farther to the south we'll have to adjust our numbers but right now looks like the poconos will get the lies share of the snow. that that's great news for the ski resort. 2 feet of snow on tuesday. tomorrow light snow 34 degrees. sunday the snow wrapping up in the wee hours of the morning, the sunshine is back, 36 degrees. so, this is really how the weekend will unfold. saturday morning some isolated slick spots north and west of philadelphia with that snow but generally during the day on saturday it's raw and rainy with periods of rain, light rain, less than a quarter inch. it will be cool with temperatures in the 40's. saturday night is when that rain will be changing over to snow and that means sunday morning there could be some slushy roads so you have to be careful. not a major snow event but could complicate your weekend. the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast tomorrow early

6:26 pm

snow and sleet changing all over to rain, the high 44 degrees. saturday night into early sunday morning that light snow. by the afternoon the sunshine is back, 46. and monday spring officially arriving at 6:28 in the morning with springlike temperatures 55 degrees. could have a few showers on monday night. tuesday breezy and mild, 57 and then wednesday and thursday we cool things back down. 42 degrees both days. should be dry with partly sunny skies and friday we cloud up with the possibility of some rain developing by the afternoon and a high of 50 degrees. so, kind of messy weather. definitely the better of the two days will be sunday. you'll be dealing with some snow on the ground but some sunshine should be here at least by lunchtime. toll is looking pretty dreary. >> thank you cecily. finally tonight hundreds of middle school students put their engineering skills to the test at temple university today. this is the 2017 sea perch challenge where youngsters put under water robots through an obstacle course. the students themselves

6:27 pm

designed and built the robots which are also called sea perches. the top 50 teams from today's competition will face off tomorrow. abc's "world news tonight" with david muir next on channel6. "action news" continues at 10:00 on phl 17 with brian taff, sharrie williams, adam joseph and ducis rodgers. then please join us for "action news" at 11:00 here on channel6. for cecily tynan, ducis rodgers and the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00. >> ♪ ♪

6:28 pm

6:29 pm

leave it to the pros? i am a pro. i made this lawn from seed pride, and less water than you'd think. to those who'd say the grass is greener on the other side.. i politely disagree. pennington smart seed. guaranteed to grow with 30% less water. reclaim your turf.

6:30 pm

president trump today is asked about his claims that president obama wiretapped him before the election, with german chancellor angela merkel right next to him. lou the president answers. the major development involving the secret service and the white house. the intruder inside the gate for 15 minutes. also tonight, the secret service laptop stolen in new york. the urgent search. on the computer, floor plans. evacuation routes at trump tower. the raging inferno, spreading to several buildings. the new apartment building up in flames. evacuations nearby, and eyewitnesses capturing it all. >> oh, my god! the mother, and medic, killed in the line of duty. carjacked, and then run over by the suspect who escaped in her ambulance. and the abc news e